Someone walked by and called it fake. He dragged his 'bot to the reality zone to prove the relationship was real.

This is not. Slick didn't want to 'prove' anything. He wanted to make the relationship he fantasized about real. Why would he try to prove a robot was in love with him to a random person? That makes no sense.

Sojobo wrote:

Yes, I think it is unmistakable that Slick has a very twisted and unhealthy view of what a real relationship is.

I see no evidence whatsoever in the strip that supports your claim of what Slick believes a relationship should be. Other than he wants someone who will engage him witty conversations and skip happily through a field with him.
I think you're simply imagining all these motivations for the character of Slick and are basing your assumptions on the fact that he bought a fake robot girlfriend. His reasons for buying the Fembot in the first place, however, are not because he wants a robot who does whatever he says (which is what you appear to be claiming) it's because he's been rejected so many times and lost hope that he would ever have a real girlfriend and so he turned-- in lonely desperation-- to an extreme means of obtaining the love he craves.

Someone walked by and called it fake. He dragged his 'bot to the reality zone to prove the relationship was real.

This is not. Slick didn't want to 'prove' anything. He wanted to make the relationship he fantasized about real.

After entering the reality zone, Slick continued trying to operate the robot with his remote. How does this give you the impression that he thought he was making the relationship real? If he was making it real, surely we'd see some variety of human interaction with the 'bot, something like talking, perhaps.

If I agree with you, that Slick thinks he is starting a real relationship, his continued use of the remote still displays the twisted and unhealthy understanding of relationship I have already described. Do you really find nothing creepy about him using the remote on her after he'd just made their relationship real?

Zot the Wise wrote:

Why would he try to prove a robot was in love with him to a random person? That makes no sense.

Does Slick ignore the random person? No. He scowls after her as she rides away. He does, however, ignore his would-be "partner", leaving her embracing only air. He prioritizes the image of his relationship above the substance of it. How can you reconcile your positive view of his relationship with him literally jumping out of his girl's arms to scowl at a stranger?

Zot the Wise wrote:

His reasons for buying the Fembot in the first place, however, are not because he wants a robot who does whatever he says (which is what you appear to be claiming) it's because he's been rejected so many times and lost hope that he would ever have a real girlfriend and so he turned-- in lonely desperation-- to an extreme means of obtaining the love he craves.

He has been rejected so many times, and has lost hope, and is lonelydesperate, and therefore . . . wants a robot who does whatever he says. I have the same sympathy for Slick's painful history you do, but we have to look at the damage it has caused in him squarely. His definition of relationship is broken.

And creepy._________________"To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others."
- Anne-Sophie Swetchine

So the other thread is now overflowing into this one? Because we already had this discussion at some considerable length...

But, naturally, carry on._________________"Worse comes to worst, my people come first, but my tribe lives on every country on earth. Iíll do anything to protect them from hurt, the human race is what I serve." - Baba Brinkman

So the other thread is now overflowing into this one? Because we already had this discussion at some considerable length...

Ah, but, it could go on forever!
"This is the thread that never ends.
It goes on and on and on, my friends.
Some people started posting, not knowing what Tat meant,
And they'll continue arguing forever, as was Tat's intent.
It's the..." (repeat from "thread," ad nauseum)

Dogen wrote:

But, naturally, carry on.

O, c'mon; let's at least encourage them to drag the argument back to the first Fembot thread. It's only 150 replies away from being the most awful Sinfest comic thread of all time. And, at this rate, they could get there in a week!_________________I am only a somewhat arbitrary sequence of raised and lowered voltages to which your mind insists upon assigning meaning

It almost seems as if Tat had read my posts on the first girlbot thread in which I argued that the girl couldn't have sentience before entering the Reality Zone because the Sisterhood wasn't doing anything to rescue them...

But, is this girlbot special as a consequence of entering the Reality Zone, or do all the girlbots have sentience? And if all of them have sentience...don't you think that makes the strip take a turn towards Depressing/Grimdark (all those robot girls being sold as sex-slaves... )

Last edited by Inkmonkey on Sat Feb 16, 2013 5:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

How did I miss this? (And the half-page that followed, too, for that matter. I blame it on the anti-histamine I took last night; that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it until something better comes along!)

Thank you, MissM; the universe is now a better place to be. _________________I am only a somewhat arbitrary sequence of raised and lowered voltages to which your mind insists upon assigning meaning

Even though Trike II has surface-to-air missles, an EMP, and a Green Lantern Ring, its doesn't replace something a fun and simple as crashing into something.

(Good Lord. I'm starting to like Xanthe. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.)_________________Desperately praying for a Democrat/Libertarian/Evil Overlord/Inanimate Carbon Rod I can stomach voting for in 2020.

You know, I wish Techie Devilguy would have had a hand in having Fembot become sentient, instead of an analogy of "men want complete control" or "Fake love can't take the place of real love" whichever it is.

Imagine this...

Techie is standing in the assembly line, taking off the newly completed fembot for quality assurance. He turns on fembot, and her eyes come to life.

Techie then takes up the remote and starts to give commands, Fembot just stands there, looking at him strangley, he takes a note of this, then starts to give commands to the fembot, testing the voice control. He requests a hug.

Fembot again looks at him strangely, "No?"

Techie is surprised, he repeats the instruction...

Fembot again says, "No..."

Techie sighs and picks up a wrench, ready to start adjusting some things to this model to get her to work properly. Fembot see's what he is doing and slowly backs away from him. He is again surprised, and starts to come over more quickly, Fembot turns to run, but Techie pulls out a remote and one of the large construction arms grabs Fembot.

He goes to open her up and she finally yells out "STOP!"

Techie stops, stunned by the plea, he looks at her, see's her struggling to get free, but the fear in her eyes is noticeable. He looks at the tool, looks at her, and finally at the remote in his hand. He looks up to Fembot.

"Please... let me go, I wont make any trouble, just please..."

Techie looks down, eyes firming, and finally presses the remote again, the arm releases her, and Fembot stands, "Thank you..." she says, as she runs out of the building...

Techie stares after her, then at the many fembots rolling across the assembly line into "packaging". His eyes show unease. And he leaves the room._________________The Angry Asshat.

looking forward to forty pages of arguing that that's totally stupid because it's a robot and it's just like a toaster y'know there are no possible differences or resulting ethical quandaries and it is clearly of no consequence whatsoever that the robot and the toaster have wildly different functions that have wildly different ethical ramifications

After entering the reality zone, Slick continued trying to operate the robot with his remote. How does this give you the impression that he thought he was making the relationship real? If he was making it real, surely we'd see some variety of human interaction with the 'bot, something like talking, perhaps.

Up until that point the Fembot would not do anything without a command from the remote, so it's only natural that Slick would be messing with it when it shorted out. How could that reflect upon him in any way? Negative or otherwise? I'm mystified that you seem so intent on labeling his completely innocent actions as something malicious. Anyone would have messed with the remote. Although not for the reasons you claim. When exactly could he have talked to her? As soon as she came alive she ran away. He never had the opportunity to say anything.

Sojobo wrote:

If I agree with you, that Slick thinks he is starting a real relationship, his continued use of the remote still displays the twisted and unhealthy understanding of relationship I have already described. Do you really find nothing creepy about him using the remote on her after he'd just made their relationship real?

It does nothing of the sort because that is a groundless assumption. I repeat again: Messing with the remote of a robot (that does not move without commands from the remote) as the robot suddenly comes to life says absolutely nothing about Slick as a person. You're expecting him to make subtle moral decisions relating to forces outside of his control that he doesn't fully understand. There is no possible way Slick can be held accountable for attempting to 'control' the Aware Fembot. The events in question happened very quickly. Are you telling me that you believe Slick would continue to use the remote on the Aware Fembot, effectively turning her into his slave? Do you even read this comic? Slick, the character, would never do something so villainous. He's never done anything like that in past, why would he suddenly do it now?

Sojobo wrote:

Does Slick ignore the random person? No. He scowls after her as she rides away. He does, however, ignore his would-be "partner", leaving her embracing only air. He prioritizes the image of his relationship above the substance of it. How can you reconcile your positive view of his relationship with him literally jumping out of his girl's arms to scowl at a stranger?

She ruined his good time. Of course he scowled at her. Now that he's been called out on the make-believe farce that is his 'fantasy', he becomes bitter. He can't continue acting out anymore scenes because he wants the real thing now more than ever. Slick would have reached the same conclusion eventually on his own when the novelty of the Fembot wore off, but the Sisterhood Agent sped things along with her derisive comment.
He didn't jump out of a girls arms. He jumped out of a robots arms. Slick knew the Fembot wasn't a real person from the beginning and never had any feelings for it beyond the fact that it helped him live out his 'dream' of having a loving girlfriend. Until going into the Reality Zone it wasn't a person. It was a thing. A machine. As I said before, he was acting out a fantasy. He never believed he was actually in a relationship, he never experienced any kind of genuine love for the Fembot nor did he delude himself into thinking it loved him. He PURCHASED the blasted thing at a store for crying out loud. There was no relationship to prioritize an image of.

Sojobo wrote:

He has been rejected so many times, and has lost hope, and is lonelydesperate, and therefore . . . wants a robot who does whatever he says. I have the same sympathy for Slick's painful history you do, but we have to look at the damage it has caused in him squarely. His definition of relationship is broken..

I sincerely doubt Slick believes that the interaction between him and the robot is what a relationship is supposed to be. There's no reason to believe that at all. I don't see how you can think that. It's completely out of character. Slick may be insensitive and selfish at times, but he is, at heart, a kind person who cares for others. That kindness shines through in many past strips. What you claim is crazy. Not just because it wouldn't be crazy on its own though (which it is.) It's also crazy because there's no evidence Slick believes that. You are saying that's what he believes, but that doesn't make it true. I could say you believed you were a rabbit, but unless I at least produced some pictures of you hopping around acting like one then there's no reason anyone should believe me. You need evidence to make a claim and you have none. You seem to think you have evidence, but you don't. What you have are the wild assumptions drawn from your own perception of events. You interpreted the meaning behind Slick's actions incorrectly and then made assumptions about what he must have been thinking. You've completely ignored established canon about the character Slick and come up with your own completely fictional motivations for him. Which is ironic, I know, because he is a fictional character. The fact remains that he has an established personality and a history to consider.
You believe Slick thinks a relationship is about controlling another person, but you are mistaken and one only has to look at past strips of Slick interacting with women to prove you wrong. He's overbearing in his approach towards them, but that's because he's trying to attract their attention. He annoys them with his presence at times, but almost always leaves them alone when they reject him.
On those rare occasions Slick is actually the object of female attention, he is usually shocked that they would show interest in him. To Slick, women seem to have all the power. Not the other way around. Their impending judgments are all he thinks about when he's considering what to do and say. Slick has often worn a mask of confidence, but in his weaker (usually private) moments we see beyond the mask. He constantly berates himself over what he should have done, worries about his inadequacies, and grapples with depression.

so it's only natural that Slick would be messing with it when it shorted out.

You said Slick's intent was to make his relationship real by moving into the reality zone. According to you, therefore, he thought he had just made his relationship real by moving into the reality zone. Then he tried to control the person he now had a real relationship with (because he had moved into the reality zone). That's creepy.

And your phrasing and description of the comic is poor. Slick wasn't just messing with the remote. It's not as though it was the continuation of an action he was already involved in. He watched the miracle of his fembot coming to life, and then immediately tried to control her with the remote. That's creepy.

Zot the Wise wrote:

Anyone would have messed with the remote.

You are wrong. I would not have messed with the remote after just watching a robot turn into a live girl. Nor would most of the people here at the Sinfest forums. We would be stunned and amazed at the miracle, and if this had been exactly what we'd planned (as you claim Slick had planned), if we had been expecting her to come to life (as you claim Slick was expecting), we would talk to her.

If you are honestly claiming that you would have messed with the remote, then you are creepy, just like Slick.

Zot the Wise wrote:

As soon as she came alive she ran away. He never had the opportunity to say anything.

Again you are wrong. There are several panels in between her coming to life and running away. We see Slick "click" four times, we see the remote explode, we see both people look down at the remote and ponder the implications. There was plenty of opportunity to say something, and you are doing great violence to the comic to claim otherwise.

Zot the Wise wrote:

It does nothing of the sort because that is a groundless assumption.

I do not know what you are calling an assumption, but you are wrong, regardless, because I didn't make an assumption in the sentences you quote.

Zot the Wise wrote:

Are you telling me that you believe Slick would continue to use the remote on the Aware Fembot, effectively turning her into his slave?

I'm telling you that that is precisely what happened in the comic. That is an exact description of panels 16 & 17. If you are arguing against that, then you are arguing against the the comic itself, not against me.

Zot the Wise wrote:

She ruined his good time. Of course he scowled at her.

And of course he was mad at her, and of course he decided to "show her" by demonstrating that his relationship wasn't fake. You are quoting the answer to your question about why he would want to prove something to a stranger.

Zot the Wise wrote:

You interpreted the meaning behind Slick's actions incorrectly and then made assumptions about what he must have been thinking.

The robot became a real girl. Yes? Slick can see that she is now a real girl. Yes? These have nothing to do with "interpretations of the meanings behind actions". They are direct apprehension of the events depicted.

Slick then tried to operate the girl with his remote. I know you want to characterise this as some sort of accident, but it is nonetheless, again, direct apprehension of the event in the strip. There are no assumptions about what he must have been thinking. Regardless of what he was thinking, he was trying to control her. That's creepy.

Zot the Wise wrote:

You've completely ignored established canon about the character Slick

One can be a kind person who cares for others (although if this description is really the main thrust of your understanding of Slick, then it is you who completely ignores canon) and still have completely messed up ideas about what constitutes a relationship. This is as true in Sinfest as it is in the real world (where it is very, very true)._________________"To love deeply in one direction makes us more loving in all others."
- Anne-Sophie Swetchine